- Supper clubs — dinners hosted at someone’s home — are trending among Gen Z, one forecaster told BI.
- Professional hosts and chefs share their best practices for achieving one.
- Their tips include putting your personality on the menu to blend in with guests at the table.
Gen Zers are increasingly eschewing late nights for cozy nights at home.
They’re also looking to supper clubs — dinners hosted in people’s homes, often by professionals — as an “affordable alternative to traditional bars in a trendy environment,” Elizabeth Tan, senior culture strategist at WGSN Insight, told BI.
BI spoke to three professional supper club hosts for their tips on hosting yours.
Admit that you can control what comes out of the kitchen, but not the conversation at the table
Aidan Brooks worked as a chef at the Chiltern Firehouse, a luxury hotel and restaurant in London, before founding his own supper club, Eleven 98. He has been entertaining paying customers in his London home for six years.
Chef Aidan Brooks has been hosting dinners for paying customers at his East London home for more than six years. Courtesy of Eleven 98
He keeps lists and documents on his laptop to plan menus and asks guests about their dietary requirements, but he said one of his biggest pieces of advice was to leave the dynamics and conversation at the table.
“I’m a bit of a control freak, as most fine dining chefs are,” Brooks said.
“I can make sure I execute the food on point, but the one thing that’s out of my control is the unique dynamic that’s created at the table. I have to let it flow organically,” he added.
Share personal stories and anecdotes about what you are serving
Punam Vaja, a self-trained chef who has been running a supper club since 2018, said personal stories can help people connect with unfamiliar cuisines.
She told BI that when she hosts, she takes time to introduce herself and share anecdotes or stories that inspired her dishes throughout the evening.
Punam Vaja puts her story on a plate at her East London supper club, Khao Suppers. Manda Shutler
“People can really tell when someone is authentic,” she said.
“If someone is sharing something or even being a little vulnerable, it’s really easy to say, ‘Ok, I’ve never had this food, but I’m really open to trying it because that story or that moment or experience that they are sharing my memories,” she added.
Vaja said she liked her dishes to reflect her sense of being “very British” and her Indian Gujarati heritage. She also aims to reflect influences from East Africa, where her father was born, and Mumbai, where her mother grew up, she told BI.
Sit at the table
Ariel Pastore-Sebring, a supper club host in Portland, Oregon, swears by a few rules. These include setting a specific end time so she doesn’t wake up until the early hours, clean up for hours, and never serve “family style,” where food is plated for diners to eat. self served.
But she said her main rule was that the hosts sit at the table.
Ariel Pastore-Sebring makes it a point to sit at the dining table with her guests. Courtesy of Ariel Pastore-Sebring
Pastore-Sebring said the presence of the host can make people feel more comfortable when they are strangers to each other.
“If I’m in the kitchen all the time, they’re going to say, what are we doing here?” she added.
Pastore-Sebring, who started her supper club in 2023, carefully plans meals and limits the number of guests to 10 to ensure she’s at the table.
“I went up to 13 and it was too much,” she added. “I want to be able to sit at the table and be all in the same conversation. More than 10 people and it really starts to get divided and lost.”
